On Wednesday of this week, Koreans celebrated their own version of Thanksgiving. Called Chuseok, it is the most important holiday of the year and combines a harvest festival with the vestiges of ancestor worship. There is also a great deal of booze involved. While Chuseok proper was on the 22nd, it’s a three-day break from work. [...]
Posts Tagged ‘travel Korea’
Thanksgiving Korean Style
Posted in High Feast Days, tagged Chuseok, family arguments, gnomeless, gnomes, Korean culture, Korean Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving, travel Korea on September 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
So Long, Yangsan!
Posted in From A to B, tagged backpacking, backpacking with children, gnomeless, gnomes, travel Korea on June 21, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Well, the time has come to say goodbye to Yangsan, our home in South Korea since March 24th. And now the real backpacking begins. Three-month stays in comfortable houses are a thing of the past for us. From now on, my wife, our baby and I will be moving about much more frequently and relying [...]
Fun With English
Posted in Random, tagged bad English, broken English, English in Korea, gnomeless, gnomes, travel Korea on June 10, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Faithful readers of this blog are well aware that my level of proficiency in the Korean language is just slightly above non-existent and well short of pathetic. From my fumblings, I understand how difficult it is to learn another language and how amusing the attempt may be to native speakers. It is a soothing balm to my ego, [...]
Death By Electric Fan
Posted in Random, tagged fan death, gnomeless, gnomes, Korean belief in fan death, strange beliefs, travel Korea on June 8, 2010 | 8 Comments »
Every country has its strange beliefs. A goodly number of Americans are convinced public health insurance is a Commie plot, many Japanese believe keeping a toy cat somewhere in their home is lucky, and the Scottish think haggis is food. Here in South Korea, a lot of folks believe in something called fan death. When I [...]
South Korea’s Pageant of Democracy
Posted in Local Culture, tagged dinosaurs, Election campaigns in Korea, gnomeless, gnomes, Korean election, travel Korea on June 5, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Imagine an election campaign where you are phoned only once, where nobody knocks on your door and there are no attack ads on TV. A lot of people in the West would think, “Sounds great.” Well, not so fast. South Korean politicians have other ways of making sure folks know they’re running for office. And in the leadup to the provincial and [...]
The House in Yangsan
Posted in Places We've Stayed, tagged cows, gnomeless, gnomes, rice paddies, travel Korea, Yangsan on June 1, 2010 | 2 Comments »
I’d like to show you some photos today of where we’ve been staying in South Korea these past couple months. Below are pictures of the in-laws’ house in Yangsan, as well as of some spots nearby. The first part of this visual tour will focus on places Ian enjoys visiting. Then I’ll really ramp up [...]
Two Things I Miss About Home
Posted in Random, tagged coffee in Korea, gnomeless, gnomes, lack of greenspace in Korea, Starbucks in Korea, travel Korea, weak coffee on May 30, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
WARNING: This blog post ends with a really lame attempt at humor. You’ve been warned. I’m always surprised by the things I miss whenever I’m overseas. When I was 21 and backpacking around the world for a year, it was Old Dutch potato chips (click here if you’re not Canadian). When I was living in [...]
The Salt of the Earth
Posted in Local Culture, tagged Evangelical Protestants in Korea, gnomeless, gnomes, how Evangelical Protestants in Korea gain converts, marketing, Matthew 5:13, mineral salt, salt of the earth, travel Korea on May 21, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Evangelical Protestants around the world have a well-earned reputation for working hard to win converts to their faith. Evangelical Protestants in Korea, however, put all the others to shame with their industriousness and marketing savvy. South Korea is enthusiastically capitalistic and intensely competitive. Just handing out a pamphlet and hoping people will come check out your church [...]
Ian Gets Star Treatment In Korea
Posted in Random, tagged cute kid, gnomeless, gnomes, Korean attitudes towards children, Koreans love kids, travel Korea, Yepuda on May 19, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Koreans are fond of little kids. They are especially fond of cute ones and are fascinated with mixed-race children. Ian is cute and mixed race, which means going out with him here is a bit like being part of a movie star’s entourage. I’ve completely lost track of the number of times that we’ve entered a shop or a restaurant and heard people [...]
The Battle of Yangsan
Posted in Random, tagged Battle of Yangsan, gnomeless, gnomes, kids fighting, sibling rivalry, travel Korea on May 13, 2010 | 3 Comments »
The combatants in the mostly low-grade conflict entering its eighth week here in Yangsan don’t even qualify as flyweights. In one corner is So-min “Rhymes with So Mean” Kim, the four-year-old daughter of my older sister-in-law. So-min stands 41 inches tall and weighs in at 36.5 pounds. In the other corner is my pride and [...]
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Jeff Melland
